Every so often, a member of the Cheney family has to publicly utter something patently off-the-mark, lest we all forget what truly awful people they are. This time, it was Mary Cheney's turn at bat and, in true-to-her-family form, she pretty much knocked it out of the ballpark of asininity.

Next time someone asks why drag is OK and blackface isn't, you can tell them that drag is an expression of yourself, whereas blackface is an attack on someone else; blackface reinforces an imbalance of power, whereas drag disassembles an imbalance of power; blackface is a relic, whereas drag is what we all do, every day, every time we put on clothes.

Drag is a celebration. Drag is an attitude. Characterizing drag queens as "bitchy, catty, dumb, slutty" is reductive and insulting. The female persona created by a drag queen is robust, powerful, enduring. She has moxie, smarts, humor and beauty.